Yes. Lebanon Ford. Caught my attention for sure.

 

800hp on the track or strip is already a lot. I can't imagine it on the road....in the rain.

 

That's the place. Thanks! I could not remember it for the life of me.

Agreed. The 400 hp overwhelms my snow tires like crazy and even brakes loose my super wide and sticky summer tires quite often in the dry. I cannot imagine twice the power. I am really starting to consider AWD the next time around just so I have some chance of putting most of the power down.

 

Cadillac released their CT4-V and CT5-V last week and the performance numbers were disappointing. However, they claimed that there would be higher performance versions coming out later. Well, this weekend at the Detroit Indycar series they had 2 prototypes in camo and one (CT5?) apparently sounded like it had the Blackwing twin turbo V-8 w/ 627 lb/ft. of torque! Too bad these cars will probably be automatic. If I could live with A/T, I probably could have found the ATS-V I wanted months ago. Still nothing even close to the right equipment and very few to choose from in 6spd. sedan. Maybe the new high performance CT4-V will be so impressive that I will forget about the A/T- but probably not.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/28326/...t-indycar-race

 

My seemingly endless search for an ATS-V sedan 6spd. in red or black with the equipment I want got dangerously close today as I found one that had almost everything I wanted, but it was higher mileage and.... it turned out to be sold. Bummer. But this gives me hope that someday the car I want will be available.

It also dawned on me how many packages and options this car has- which combined with being a very low production run makes it nearly impossible to find used, especially in a sedan with a 6spd. For example, you need 3 packages just to get the heads up display?!? If it had just the carbon package outside and the Recaro seats, Performance Data Recorder, and Safety & Security and Technology Packages inside it would work for me. It would be really nice if it also had the polished wheels, red brake calipers, and suede steering wheel and shifter without a moonroof. So for those of you keeping track at home, that is 8 options that would make this car idea, but also makes it nearly impossible to find. "So you're saying there's a chance."

 

I got to drive a 2019 Chevrolet Camaro SS (the one with a V8) and I was not impressed. They state it has 455 horsepower with 455 lb-ft of torque, yet it did not feel that fast. Obviously felt faster than the G37. But if I compared it to the M56, the Camaro felt slower. The interior was okay, and the whole car seemed to appeal more to younger people. The steering was tight, but it obviously felt like an electric power steering (I really hate electric power steering). The only thing I liked was the exhaust, since it sounded cool when you started it or floored it. I really don't like American cars in general, except the old classic ones, but I will say that the American car companies really stepped up their game from where they were a decade ago. Would I get an American car? An old classic, yes. A new one, no.

If I would have to replace the G37 (God, I do not want to replace it) I'd probably go for a car made before 2010 personally. I've sat in an ATS-V and that car was cool and comfortable, just too much electronics for my liking. Plus the on-star device sends info of how fast you're going, and police officers can use it to shut down the car, which is a big turn off for me.

 

That's too bad that the Camaro felt slow. I just sat in one and it seemed huge and hard to see out of- no thanks.

I don't think that is quite how Onstar works. Police don't have any control over a car, but Onstar does. Fortunately, Onstar doesn't have a team looking for speeders who shut cars off when they speed. If they did, then every Camaro, Corvette, ATS-V, CTS-V, etc. that I have been on track with would have been shut down on the first lap. We usually triple the speed limit. Fortunately, that has never happened. Can you imagine the accidents and lawsuits if the cars just shut down while they were speeding?

What Onstar can do if you have a subscription is if someone steals your car you can call it in and they can provide the police with the location so they can stop them. Onstar may be able to shut the car off in that instance if the police have a visual and think that the car will not endanger anyone if they shut it down, but I have never heard of that happening. We have very similar technology in a lot of our cars at work and none of them give the police the ability to do anything to your car.

 

Surprised to read this. I rented a 2017 Camaro 2SS with the 8at transmission and the car felt fast to me. It is a mid 12 second car after all and I loved the torque from the big V8. The car was hard to see out of at first, but I got used to it after 20 mins.

Currently searching for a 2017-2018 Camaro SS 1LE while my G37 remains a daily driver.

 

The 1LE is a great bang for your buck car in terms of performance, especially if there are track days in your future. Personally, I think my next car will be turbocharged because there is so much more tuning potential, but the 1LE is a great option.

 

So I am sort of glad that the ATS-V's I found this weekend did not quite work out. It made me realize that there are a lot of new cars coming out that could be really good. I doubt any of them will be as good as the ATS-V for what I need, but it at least gives me the excuse to wait and keep looking.

Check out this list of upcoming cars, updates, or rumored relatively affordable sports cars that could be really good in the next year+:

GTI
Golf R
Audi RS3 (update)
Mazdaspeed 3?
RX-7/8?
Veloster N AWD
Genesis sports car
Nissan Z?
Alfa Romeo 4C replacement and/or Guilia Quadrifoglio coupe with more power
Mini John Cooper Works
Mercedes CLA45 AMG
BMW M2 CS
BMW M3
Corvette C8
Camaro Z/28?
Cadillac CT4-V high performance
Subaru STI
Toyota Supra

Good lord that is a lot of options! Hopefully, there are some really good cars here in the future. Feel free to add to the list if I missed anything.

 

I've also seen some rumors that the replacement for the Q50 should be revealed in 2020. I dunno how true that is though.

 

I haven't heard that, but maybe that means Nissan will finally make a new Z. That would mean the Infiniti went through an entire generation of the car before Nissan made a new Z.

 

I also prefer turbocharged cars because of the tuning options, but I like to keep my cars for 5+ years, so I think going with a n/a V8 will be good for long term reliability.

 

I raced 3 turbo charged cars for about 10 years and never had any issues. The turbo charged cars of today are even more durable with new cylinder wall coatings and upgraded drivetrains. I never had any titanium or forged parts in my engines and now that is really common in turbo cars. I think you would be fine if that was an option you were considering.

 

I keep looking at STI's and Q50's and keep coming back to two problems:

STI is still a boy racer and "ring failure"

Q50 has no manual and the infotainment system is one of the worst designs of the past decade (maybe even longer)